It was during questioning by the Maharashtra ATS that Azim’s close links with Malegaon-based SIMI activists were revealed. Azim told the ATS that during his visits to Malegaon, last of which was four months before the blasts, he had established these contacts to further his job of espionage and providing logistics information to HuJI. Though he had named local SIMI activists like Noorul Huda Samsudoha, Shabbir Ahmed Masiullah, Mohammed Zahid Abdul Majid Ansari and few others, he denied any knowledge of the blasts. Later, Samshudoha, Masiullah and Ansari were arrested by the ATS for their alleged involvement in the blasts and charged as being the prime accused who conspired and got the blasts executed.

“His questioning gave a lot of information to ATS about the local SIMI activists and those who required to be inquired further because of his links. We also found that he had well established contacts with HuJI. We also found some documents and a diary containing telephone numbers of his contacts in Malegaon and across the border from his possession,” said Bhushan.

But the ATS never found Azim’s involvement in the blasts though it got its first leads about the incident from him. “He had links with the accused but we did not arrest him as we did not find his involvement,” said Maharashtra ATS chief and Joint Commissioner of Police K P Raghuvanshi.

The state had transferred investigations to the CBI after protests from the residents of Malegaon on the arrests made by the ATS. The ATS had contended that the nine arrested accused, alleged active SIMI members, had hatched and executed the conspiracy with the help of two Pakistanis in the textile town to “infuriate the entire Muslim community and trigger communal riots.”

... contd.